There's alot to be said about hangin' out with the right people. Its amazing how much of an influence the behavior of your friends and acquaintances can be on your own behavior. This is a lesson I learned the hard way over the years, where I developed a crippling drug habit, which was often helped aloong and nurtured by a gaggle of drug-using "friends". I dont blame them for my habit, I'm just saying that I could have probably wrestled myself free of my downward spiral sooner if I hadn't surrounded myself with others that were just as badly deluded about drugs.

On the Christian Post website, I found a nice devotional about the influence of others, and how they can effect our committment to God. It recalls the relationship between Abraham and Lot, and I reprint it here below:

" 'Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first. . . .' " â€”Revelation 2:5

At first glance, you might think that Abraham and his nephew Lot were both spiritual men. But a closer examination reveals that this was not the case.

You see, Abraham lived for God. Lot, on the other hand, lived for himself. Abraham walked in the Spirit. Lot walked in the flesh. Abraham lived by faith. Lot lived by sight. And most significantly, Abraham walked with God, and Lot walked with Abraham.

Unfortunately, because of Lot's half-hearted commitment to the Lord, he was becoming a spiritual drain on Abraham. The relationship they had was pulling Abraham down. That is why, earlier in Genesis, God said to Abraham, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1).

But Abraham was reluctant to part ways with Lot. When a famine came, Abraham actually went down to Egypt. It was a definite step backward. But Abraham eventually came to his senses and realized he was in a backslidden state. He decided to return to God and to the place where He had called him.

Sadly for Abraham, he reaped in the years ahead the results of that wrong choice. It was in Egypt that a woman named Hagar became Sarah's servant. Abraham ended up having a child with Hagar. The child's name was Ishmael, and conflicts between his descendents and the descendents of Isaac continue to this very day.

Have ungodly influences been wearing you down lately? Has a certain relationship or pursuit become a spiritual drain in your life? Have you been compromising? Then make a change. It isn't too late.